Why Villains in Movies Have English Accents

It has often been asked why the bad guy in (chiefly American) movies always speaks with an English accent. The answer has to do with two interlocking concepts: the stereotype and the connotations of the English accent in America.

The Power and Convenience of Stereotypes

Most of the biggest-grossing Hollywood movies, for all their merits, are generally not replete with plotlines driven by unique or complex characters. The age of such productions as Lawrence of Arabia, in which the character of one of the most fascinating men ever to have lived is explored over the course of nearly four hours of film, is decidedly over. Today's moviegoing audiences won't stand for it, and even if they would, the big movie production houses are rarely willing to take the risk. They prefer to populate their movies with characters that are instantly recognisable: The Down-and-out Little Brother, the Amusing Ethnic Guy, and the Tough, Bitchy Battleaxe Who Is Revealed To Be Warm-Hearted At The End, Coming To The Aid Of Our Less Experienced Heroine. These are stereotypes, massive distillations of recognisable trends and tendencies. You may know people like this, but stereotypes have none of the uniqueness that makes the individual. Real battleaxes and ethnic guys you know are real and individual. Stereotypes provide the audience with prepackaged characters, often accessorised with easily identifiable motivations and predictable one-liners, sparing everyone (producers and audience alike) the need to develop and understand a unique persona. With valuable screen minutes thus saved, moviemakers can add more explosions and gratuitous sex scenes.

However, one stereotypical character you've probably never met in real life is the Evil Genius. And this presents a problem for film-makers.

The English Accent in America

The solution they came up with was admirably clever. Drawing on the legends of such gentlemanly criminals as Edward Pierce, and combining them with the American perception of the English accent1, the Sophisticated Evil Genius was born to populate villainous roles in film on countless occasions.

The accent most commonly employed in this manner is received pronunciation (or RP). This and other English accents, and sometimes even Scottish or Welsh accents as well2, in America have a ring of sophistication and intelligence. This association possibly stems from frontier times, when among the rough and tumble talk of the Wild West the less altered speech of genteel folks from the east stuck out conspicuously. It may have to do with the general impression of Great Britain as the 'Old World': a place of tradition and schooling and nobility. Also, the concept of the British as the 'old masters' and British influence as an unjust yoke to be thrown off is deeply ingrained in American cultural history. In any case, though most Americans don't know what RP is, it sounds smart to them.

This phenomenon has led to the creative use of accents to be found in Robin Hood movies. Beginning with Errol Flynn's classic portrayal, and leading up to Kevin Costner's laughable (and anachronistic) accent in Prince of Thieves3, Hollywood Robin Hoods have had American accents. The Sheriffs of Nottingham have, naturally, spoken with English accents.

Star Wars: a Case Study

The original Star Wars trilogy4 is an interesting case. On the side of evil we have the Empire, whose officers sound quite British. The baddest of the bad, however, is Darth Vader, voiced by James Earl Jones, an American. It is interesting to note, though, that casting Jones was a decision that came late in the film and he merely overdubbed the lines of the British actor who played Darth Vader. Also, Vader was redeemed at the end of The Return of the Jedi, and imperial officers were not. On the side of good, most of the characters had American accents, including the über-American, space cowboy Han Solo. But there is an exception in the Star Wars movies, as well. Sir Alec Guinness gives the role of Obi-wan Kenobi his most deliciously wise English voice. He is a remnant of the old order, a mentor guiding our young brash hero, and is still in line with the prevailing stereotypes.

History of the Villainous Accent in American Film

In the early days of cinema, Hollywood stars were American, while character actors came from everywhere else. Your American star carried the film, and never played a villain because it might have tarnished their image. The role of the villain was handed to a stock of character actors. Any US actor wanting to be a star some day might avoid the villainous role, whereas British character actors have always been more flexible. The same applied with crossing media. Once an American actor broke into films, it used to be seen as career death to go back to TV, but this limitation was rarely applied to the British.

The English accent in film has had a unique history. The casting of bad guys has often been politically motivated. During the first half of the century, they often had German accents, and during the Cold War, the thrillers of the era naturally had Russian bad guys. Ever since film has become a popular medium, however, there has been an overt political need to cast Britons as baddies. As mentioned above, the connotations of the accent come from centuries of anti-imperialistic fashionable thought. Even so, modern Americans don't necessarily associate modern Britons with the big, bad Empire of yesteryear. It's the accent that's seen as evil, not the nationality5. It has become merely a stereotypical way of indicating the bad guy, a job once done by white and black cowboy hats or the glow of a cigarette in a dark alley.

While some people who speak with British accents in real life find this phenomenon offensive and yet another example of American arrogance, others see it differently. To quote one Researcher:

As an Englishman born and bred I have to say that I'm quite fond of the American tendency to cast my countrymen as the villain of the piece. He might always fall foul of the hero and/or his own devious plots at the end of the film, but he always gets the best lines and brings an impeccable style to the dance that you just can't get with a US accent. Alan Rickman, Charles Dance, Jeremy Irons and many others always steal the scene away from the likes of Kevin Costner, Bruce Willis and Tom Hanks every time.

Some Examples

Please note - the following list contains potential spoilers, as even with the strong signifier that the character is English, the villainy of some of the ones listed below is only revealed as a late twist in the plot.

Christopher Eccleston in Gone in Sixty Seconds

Tango and Cash

Roddy Maude-Roxby as the voice of Edgar the butler in the animation The Aristocats.

Alan Rickman in Die Hard (a case of an English actor playing a Germanic character with a slight accent), Help! I'm a Fish, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Quigley Down Under.

1Though we use the term 'English' throughout this Entry, accents ranging from Scots to Boston Brahmin have been used in this manner.2The distinction between these is often difficult for American ears to discern.3This was later spoofed by Cary Elwes in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights when he speaks the line 'Unlike some Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent!'4Episodes IV-VI. While Episodes I and II (at time of writing) do present some interesting use of accents that are worthy of analysis, that is beyond the scope of this Entry.5An exception to this use of accents occurs in historical dramas, such as Pocahontas, Braveheart or The Patriot (which all coincidentally star Mel Gibson) in which the British actually are the bad guys.6Although Hopkins is playing Lecter with an Anglicised American accent, to most he just sounds English. Which is strange, considering he's Welsh.7Though he more than made up for it by playing good guy Sherlock Holmes in lots of movies, too.8Though the hero, Cary Grant, is also English, his accent is not... quite.9The first film, later subtitled 'A New Hope'.10An Irish actor 'playing' an Englishman.11Here, McKellen continues the tradition of playing Eastern-European characters with a cut-glass English accent, whereas his character in Apt Pupil, former Nazi officer Dussander, has a strong German accent. McKellen's casting in both films was, however, almost certainly down to having a theatrical English knight for the respective parts.

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